Category: 3DS

Super Mario 3D Land director Yoshiaki Koizumi had a chat with the Official Nintendo Magazine. During the interview, he was asked whether he was interested in remaking any Zelda games. He said:

“I guess I can’t really say one title specifically because then the world will expect us to make it and I’ll get into a whole lot of trouble!

I can say that I really would like to see a lot of those games that use 3D worlds on 2D display just so I could see what they look like in 3D and see what kind of different experiences people would have playing through them on a 3D display. So in that sense I would love to see Sunshine and both Galaxy games presented in 3D, and a lot of the Zelda [games] would be interesting too.”

So, this is just speculative but I think this shows that Nintendo are going to be remaking lots of classic games for the 3DS. Whether this is a good or bad thing, I’m not sure. It seems generally a good thing to me, as long as Nintendo doesn’t stay stuck in the past and dedicates most of its resources to developing original software.

If you live in England like I do and don’t own a Nintendo 3DS yet, you may be pleased to know that prices are pretty damn low. Generally, you will be able to buy a 3DS for just over £100, compared to the original price of over £200. You can buy one at Tesco for £115. Better yet, Curry’s and PC World claim that they have the cheapest 3DS’s. If you can prove to them the price of 3DS consoles being sold in any store within a 30-mile radius of the PC World or Curry’s store, they will offer you a 3DS for 10% off that price. So show them that Tesco are selling 3DS’s for £115, and get your own 3DS for just £104. Happy shopping!

The 3DS price cut is now happening, but if you want this “flame red” 3DS model, you’ll have to wait until 9th September, when it will be released in North America. The flame red 3DS is a bright, pinkish red.

This version of the 3DS also releases on the same day as Star Fox 64 3D (am I the only one who thinks just Star Fox 3D sounds better?), and it joins the two currently available 3DS colours, Cosmo Black and Aqua Blue.

Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 have had their release dates revealed.Super Mario 3D Land: November 13thMario Kart 7: December 4th
Although Nintendo have said these are not set-in-stone, Nintendo have confirmed that they will definitely be released in their respective months (Mario 3D Land in November, Mario Kart 7 in December). Both these games will be awesome, especially Mario Kart 7 with the customization system. This announcement should also help potential 3DS owners who are on the fence about buying the console that it will finally have a selection of decent games.

A recent survey conducted in Japan revealed that Japanese gamers are not particularly enthusiastic about the Nintendo 3DS. In a poll of 6,500 3DS owners, 30% felt “anger or regret” about the price drop, which suggests the free eShop games as compensation are not enough. 49.4% said the 3DS didn’t have enough games, and 45.7% said they were not planning to buy, or were on the fence about buying, Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. Hopefully consumers will cool down once the price drop has been in effect for a while!

3DS sales have been a little mediocre as of late. Nintendo have sold approximately a mere 700,000 units in the last two months. Consumers are also obviously waiting until the August 12th price drop to buy their 3DS’s, and sales have fallen drastically. For example, two weeks ago in Japan, the 3DS sold 31,826 units but this week the figure was cut almost in half to 16,415.

But although Nintendo must be disappointed with their sales, they don’t have much to worry about, at least according to Zelda Informer. The 3DS has sold just over four million units in its first five months on sale, compared to the original DS’s five million. This is a promising comparison if you consider the originally high cost of the 3DS and Nintendo’s decision to market it outside of a holiday season, unlike the original DS.

The 3DS also has a dire lack of software available. In fact, I find it hard to believe that Nintendo has sold over four million units of an expansive handheld that has, at the moment, almost no decent games. There are perhaps two or three excellent 3DS titles out now, including Ocarina of Time 3D. I reckon that once the price cut occurs and Mario, Yoshi and other members of the Nintendo gang debut on the 3DS, sales will pick up considerably. Nintendo may have initially over-produced and over-valued the 3DS, but the console probably has a bright future ahead.

Nintendo has now confirmed that the 3DS price drop will apply to Europe and Australia come August 12th. The price in Australia will be reduced from $350 AU to $250 AU. With this price drop, Nintendo are now making a loss on every 3DS console sold. Nintendo shareholders have responded negatively such that the value of Nintendo shares have dropped by 12% since the price drops were announced. Still, if Nintendo grit their teeth and drudge through the price drops, their marketing strategy may pay off. There’s plenty of reasons to be hopeful, especially since Ocarina of Time 3D sold a million copies recently, and many fans want to get Majora’s Mask remade too.

Back in June Reggie Fils-Aime spoke to Kotaku, saying that the main problems of the 3DS – the lack of core games, and the lack of online capabilities – had been fixed. Ocarina of Time 3D became a big reason to buy the 3DS, and there are plenty of confirmed upcoming Nintendo games such as Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart. Meanwhile, the 3DS online network and eShop are now up. But these additions have not given enough consumers an incentive strong enough to buy the 3DS; Its sales figures are continuing to underperform despite its strong first week and despite Nintendo’s initial expectations. Nintendo hoped to sell about four million 3DS’s in the first few weeks of its release, but this is the figure they achieved after three months.

Because of this, Nintendo have decided to drastically lower the price of 3DS consoles. On August 11th, you will be able to buy a 3DS in Japan for 15,000 Yen compared to the original cost of 25,000. The following day, US gamers will be able to get a 3DS for $169.99, significantly lower than the original $249.99 price tag. Nintendo have not commented whether the price drop will happen in other parts of the world, though it seems likely.

Nintendo of Japan president Satoru Iwata admitted “Never in Nintendo’s history have we lowered prices to such an extent, less than half a year since the product launch. But we have judged that unless we move decisively now, there is a high possibility that we will not see many of our customers enjoying a Nintendo 3DS.”

If you already have a 3DS and you connect to the eShop before August 11th, you can sign up for the “Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program”. Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors will be able to download up to twenty free games from the eShop. On September 1st, Ambassadors will be able to download ten free NES Virtual Console games, including Super Mario Bros and Donkey Kong Jr. Nintendo had these games planned for release at a later date, but Ambassadors will get them for free and earlier than non-Ambassadors. By the end of 2011, Ambassadors will also be able to download ten free Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games, including Mario Kart and Yoshi’s Island. These ten games will not be made available to non-Ambassadors. For more information and a full list of the exclusive games, click here to see the official Nintendo website.

Nintendo 3DS sales will probably be very poor prior to August 11th. I think people would much rather spend $80 less on a new console in a few week’s time than effectively spend a hefty $80 on eShop games they probably won’t play much anyway. If you want a 3DS you’re better off just being patient and getting it soon for nearly $100 less than Nintendo intended. Perhaps 3DS sales will start picking up then.

If you have never played Link’s Awakening DX but you own a 3DS, now is your chance to play this classic title in handheld form (and not on an emulator on the computer, boo). For a mere $6 you can download Link’s Awakening DX via the 3DS eShop, and so many gamers have been doing so recently. In fact, so muhc that Link’s Awakening DX is currently the best-selling game on the eShop. Although it is techically behind Excite Bike, Excite Bike was free for a long while, which obviously would have boosted sales exponentially. But what are you reading this for? Get back to Link’s Awakening DX!

Netflix is officially coming to the 3DS. You can download the Netflix application from the 3DS eShop for free, but in order to start watching content you will need to purchase a Netflix streaming plan (starting at $7.99 per month), and you will need to connect your 3DS to the internet via a wireless device (such as a router). So far, only 2D content is available but Nintendo have confirmed that movies will be made available in 3D.
This application comes at a time when the 3DS is selling reasonably well, but not as much as Nintendo hoped. Nintendo hoped to sell at least 4 million units by the end of April earlier this year, but ended up selling only 3.61 million. Nintendo will have to add more appeal to the device’s core functionality – 3D images without the need of any glasses. Still, Nintendo need not worry too much I reckon – the 3DS lacks games at the moment, and Nintendo needs to release a bunch of core games (such as an original Zelda title) before it will really take off, especially since the 3DS was designed to appeal to ‘core’ gamers.